


Cocoon of Lies

by pandapresident



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, who ordered the international business rivals au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-07-22 05:17:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7421464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandapresident/pseuds/pandapresident
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo attempts to get laid and it backfires horribly. He'll have to decide which is most important: what he wants or who his father thinks he should be. Somehow that arrogant Takumi worms his way into the fracas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Leo sat at the hotel bar. In front of him was whiskey on the rocks, untouched but for a single sip. He would have another each time an ice cube melted away. It wasn’t the best rule of thumb and the bartender was starting to scowl at him for being a cheapskate, but he remembered all too well the last time he’d tried one of these hook-ups. He’d been wrecked before his new acquaintance had even showed up.

This time was going to be different. He would pace himself and be nice and pleasant and normal and after the evening had passed he’d return to his usual life. What happened between leaving the bar and the next morning would be known only to him and sharpshooter69, a chap whose cringe worthy screenname was offset by his fantastic abs.

Gods, he hoped that he’d spot him when he came in. They’d told each other what colour top they were going to wear but what if some interloper came in wearing the same colour? The guy had said that he’d be in blue but blue wasn’t exactly an uncommon colour for clothes. Besides, there were so many shades of blue-

Leo glanced around at the other patrons, most of whom were wearing black suits or female or both. There was a slight chance that he was stressing needlessly. He peered hopefully down at his drink and counted the ice cubes. Four, _still_ , dammit. He put his hand on the glass to draw out some of the cold and force those stubborn ice cubes to melt.

His current predicament – not knowing who his suitor was, not the thing with the ice cubes - was truly a flaw in the application. So many people posted faceless shots to hide their identity (or, according to Niles, something even worse: their faces) which was fine and dandy until it came to be meeting time. Naturally, Leo couldn’t risk posting his face on there because the press would jump on it and then his father would possibly literally murder him.

There was a cough or a clearing of the throat – what was the difference? Did it matter as long as the person wasn’t ill? Leo looked up from his drink to see an attractive young man, around his age or maybe a little younger – the broad cheekbones gave his face a youthful look that could be deceptive – who just happened to be wearing blue. He looked vaguely familiar, like someone Leo might have passed on the way to classes or seen occasionally on a TV screen.

“Are you-?” the man asked, waving a hand nervously as a substitute for finishing his sentence.

“Most probably,” Leo said. He took a swig from his glass. The rules didn’t count once the guest had arrived, right? “Though I think I’d need to see you shirtless to be sure.”

“Wow, yeah, I guess you must be.”

“As you failed to flee or punch me for that comment, I think you’re right.” Leo downed the rest of his drink. “Shall we be off to somewhere more private and hopefully more comfortable?”

“Yeah, but don’t get your hopes up too much on the comfort front,” said his new friend Mr sharpshooter69. “This place is a bit behind the times. According to the internet reviews, anyway.”

“Unfortunately, this town is not the best for clandestine meetings. It was this or – or the other hotel.”

“Yeah, and the Nohrians are soulless, aren’t they?” sharpshooter69 said with unbecoming enthusiasm for trashing Leo’s hotel chain.

Leo narrowed his eyes. “Actually, it was full up,” he said. It was a lie, but his new frenemy didn’t need to know that.

“On a Sunday night?” His guest tilted his back to gaze sceptically at him, sending his long ponytail swinging. “In this town?”

“Indeed.” They stared impassively at each other until the other man broke off with a shrug.

“Huh, and here I was thinking you were just being cheap.”

“I’m sorry; should I cancel the bottle of champagne that’s waiting up there?”

“Depends what year it is.”

Leo had no idea what year it was. His stomach tensed and he felt, for the first time, the dread of possibly not meeting a paramour’s expectations.

They reached the hotel room. Leo hoped to any deity that might be spying that the champagne was a decent vintage and that the hotel room actually looked like the image on the internet. It was a lot to hope for, he knew all too well, but if it didn’t meet expectations he was literally going to buy the property and have it crushed.

He fumbled with the key card, sticking it in the slot upside down. His new – whatever – sniggered.

“Not used to those things?” he asked.

“On the contrary,” Leo said, hoping that the burning of his cheeks wasn’t too obvious. “The placement of the logo really conflicts with the perception of how the key should work. They should raise the issue with their design team.”

He opened the door. It wasn’t in his top twenty hotel rooms but it wasn’t in the bottom twenty, either, so he chalked it up to a win. He held the door open for – whatever his name was, the fine piece of ass – and then locked the door behind him.

“So what should I call you?” fine piece of ass asked him, as if reading his mind. “Your username doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.”

“I beg your pardon, sharp shooter _sixty-nine_?”

Sixty-nine had the good grace to look embarrassed. “That was at a friend’s insistence, Magixxx-Rod!”

“…Likewise.” Two friends, actually, and Leo didn’t know whether he’d have gotten better or worse results if he’d consulted just one of them.

“So now we’ve ascertained that our friends share poor taste,” Sixty-Nine said, pausing momentarily to check on the bottle sitting on an ice bucket, “Unlike this champagne. You want to uncork or should I?”

“I will,” Leo said, trying to regain control of the situation. He eased the cork out expertly and filled two glasses with a minimum of fuss. He handed one over. “You were attempting to make some sort of point?”

“Oh, yeah,” Sixty-Nine said, clinking his glass against Leo’s. “I should probably know what to call you.”

“You?”

“No, you first!”

“No, you misunderstand. What is wrong with a simple ‘you’?”

“I think ‘hey, you,’ might spoil the moment a bit. I mean, I’ve never topped the romance bestseller charts, so I could be wrong, but-”

“Point taken.” Leo sipped his champagne in what he hoped was a casual manner. He had gone to his friends about this issue, too, but they had been decidedly unhelpful.

(“Geronimo!” Odin had immediately insisted.

“Dick,” said Niles.

“Endymion!” Odin countered, furiously searching on his phone. Niles scoffed, grabbed Odin’s phone, and then his face had lit up.

“’Meaning: dive in’,” he read. “It does have its charms.”)

“George,” Leo said.

“Fred,” said the man who was possibly named Fred. They stared impassively at each other again. Leo had a niggling suspicion that he was being teased but, as he couldn’t figure out how, he broke off their staring contest with a half genuine smile and a raised bottle.

“Want another glass?” he asked.

“Maybe later,” Fred said. He set his glass down on the windowsill and stepped towards Leo. Leo froze, his heart pounding, as Fred leaned in towards him. He shivered as Fred’s breath brushed against his neck.

“Uh, have you just met with someone else?” Fred asked.

“What?” Leo said, stepping back indignantly.

“Only your jumper is inside out.”

Leo pulled it off and tossed it aside angrily.

“I had to take it off earlier,” he said, “To swaddle an injured kitten, if you must know. I must have put it on incorrectly after the vet returned it.”

“Uh huh,” Fred said, grinning. “I kind of wish it had been your trousers that were inside out, now.”

“I do apologise for managing to dress myself in the morning,” Leo said, still feeling defensive after his earlier mistake.

“Whoa, I wouldn’t go that far,” Fred said, stepping closer. “You’ve still got what, three other items of clothing that could be inside out?”

“Socks can’t be inside out,” Leo huffed, surreptitiously checking his neck for another sneaky label.

“Socks can so be inside out,” Fred said. He plucked one of his own off and inverted it. “See how the pattern looks weird on the inside?”

“That’s because you are wearing patterned socks like a child,” Leo sniffed. Inwardly, he worried about the times he’d pulled on novelty gift socks in the dark. “If you’d worn plain ones-“

“They’d have a hem at the toe!”

“…Anyway,” Leo said, pouring himself another drink. How was it that Niles did this without committing murder? “Are we here to argue or fuck?”

“Does one have to preclude the other?” Fred asked. He stepped towards Leo, took his glass and set it down. Leo’s hand twitched, wanting to regain that barrier between them, but then saw how Fred was looking up at him through long lashes. He gulped as Fred began unbuttoning his shirt.

“I should have worn a polo shirt like you,” Leo said, fingering the light cloth of Fred’s sleeve. “Far less hassle.”

“You suit shirts,” Fred said. He finished opening Leo’s shirt and brushed the sides apart so it fell down Leo’s shoulders. Leo shrugged it off the rest of the way as Fred pulled his polo over his head and cast it carelessly across the room. Leo’s eyes locked on Fred’s biceps. He’d never really cared for arms but Fred’s were something special.

He pushed Fred backwards onto the bed and straddled his lap. Their lips met, fleetingly at first, but Fred cupped Leo’s head and pulled him closer to kiss him hungrily. Leo rolled his hips instinctively over Fred’s crotch. Fred moaned and fumbled with the clasp of Leo’s trousers. Leo pushed him back after a fruitless eternity (at least, that’s how it felt to Leo) and slid back to remove his trousers himself. Fred unbuttoned his own tented trousers to reveal black boxers and the slightest slip of pink flesh straining to get out beneath them.

Leo stepped forward and gripped Fred’s trouser legs, ready to free him from the offending item of clothing, as a click came from the direction of the door. Leo turned his head in a haze, barely recognising the implications of the sound, and saw his father’s attack dog Iago. He dropped the trousers that were still half-on Fred’s body.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Leo asked, torn between being terrified of being caught and terrified that he was seeing things because how could Iago be here, really? He had locked the door. The door was locked. How had Iago unlocked the locked door?

“I don’t think you’re really in a position to ask questions, are you?” Iago asked, a malevolent grin spread across his face. “Nor you, Takumi Hoshido.”

Fred – no, Takumi – dropped the phone handset he must have grabbed when Iago had barged into the room.

“Who are you?” Takumi spluttered as he shimmied back into his trousers. Leo realised, far too late, why he had looked familiar. It wasn’t from TV but from a computer screen, when he’d been researching his chief rivals in the hotel business, the Hoshido family that ran the White Night international chain.

“I’ve come to extract you from this situation, dear Leo Nohr,” Iago continued, ignoring Takumi’s question. Leo picked his trousers up from the floor, his face burning as he tried to avoid Takumi’s accusing glare.

“Shut the damn door,” Leo growled at Iago.

“How about you just get out of it?” Takumi asked. Out of the corner of his eye Leo could see that he was already pulling on his polo shirt.

“I paid for this room-“ Leo began, but fell silent as Takumi scoffed.

“Oh, you’ll pay all right,” Takumi said, seizing the remaining champagne. “You’ll pay.”

He stepped into his shoes and barged past Iago through the door.

“Goodness,” Iago said, holding his hand to his face in mock concern. “Do you think that was a threat? Maybe we should prepare to take action against that filthy little chain just in case.”

“Do what you want,” Leo muttered. He grabbed his jumper and threw it around his shoulders. “It’s what you do best, isn’t it?”

He tried to storm out, hoping that he could catch Takumi, but Iago hurried after him.

“Sir, I can assure you,” Iago said in his very oiliest voice, the one usually saved for Leo’s father, “I only have the Nohrs’s very best interests at heart.”

 

* * *

  


Leo extracted himself from Iago by saying he needed to stop by the bathroom. The window was high but there was a handy lidded trash can nearby. Leo pushed it in front of the window, climbed up and yanked the window open. It was going to be a squeeze. As he pulled himself through the narrow gap he felt grateful that he wasn’t as bulky and muscular as his elder brother Xander. Xander would never have been able to slip out like that.

He fell gracelessly out of the window onto some forgotten cardboard boxes. The soggy boxes folded easily beneath his weight, cushioning his fall ever so slightly, and Leo stood up with no more than a twinge in his ankle. He figured that he had only a couple of minutes to get away before Iago got suspicious and checked the bathroom. He broke into a run as he hit dial on his phone.

“My lord! Shouldn’t you be otherwise engaged for another few hours at least?”

“I should have been, yes,” Leo said, leaping across a blockage of rubbish bags that spanned the width of the narrow alley. “And I will have to regale you with that tale very soon. For now, I need you to come and get me. Urgently.”

“Your command is my wish!” Odin said. Leo could imagine him saluting as he sprang into action. “To which end of the Earth should I go to find you?”

“The café we visited yesterday,” Leo said. “See you there.”

“We will meet you anon!”

Leo came to an abrupt halt at the end of the alleyway. He poked his head around the corner, glancing both ways in case Iago had stationed someone nearby. None of the usual suspects were in sight so he dashed out during the next break in traffic. He rounded the first street corner he could, even though it would add a few seconds more to his run, just so that he would be less likely to be spotted if Iago left the hotel and started looking for him.

The back of his shoe was cutting into his Achilles heel. These were gorgeous shoes but definitely not designed for getaway chases. Every time he put pressure on his left ankle he worried that it might give way underneath him but stopping wasn’t an option. Iago had deadly information and the upper hand. Leo needed to regroup and figure out a counterattack.

The café was in sight now. Leo pushed himself harder, ignoring his body’s complaints, and ducked inside the small shop. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, dropped some coins on the counter with a quick word of thanks, and loitered by the door. As he drank deeply from the bottle he wondered how long it was since he rang? When they were on top form Niles and Odin could get out and into the car in under twenty seconds. The café, situated halfway between his hotel and the one they were staying at, was about ten minutes away under normal driving conditions. He hoped that they didn’t squabble over who got to drive, as that could take anywhere from six seconds to three minutes.

His phone dinged with Niles’s alert noise. “10 secs til eta, sorry about,” followed by two emojis in the shape of blue balls. Leo smiled wanly despite himself, then broke into a grin as the sleek Mercedes S-type pulled up outside. He tumbled out of the café, flung the door open and collapsed inside. The car, which had lapsed into a growl as it slowed down, roared into life again.

“You will not believe what I’ve been put through,” he said, kicking off his shoes and rubbing his feet. He glanced out of the window and was surprised to see another Mercedes rounding the corner, and a black one at that. His gaze inched downwards to the car’s interior as his heart sank.

“If you’re going to spend ninety grand tricking someone,” he said, forcing his voice to stay steady, “You might not want to cheap out on the trim. It saved you, what, two hundred?”

“Figured that once you were close enough to see it’d be a too late to back out,” Hans replied, confirming his worst fears. Leo groaned and leaned back, finally taking in the driver in front of him, then peered through the back window to see what had become of Odin and Niles. He frowned, scanning the road but not seeing his last hope.

Leo’s head jolted forward as the car stopped. Hans was swearing ferociously at the vehicle blocking their path. Leo hopped out and ran to his saviours. Niles opened the passenger door and pulled him inside. He slammed the door behind them as Hans was getting out of the decoy car and Odin sped off.

“A glorious victory that will be immortalised in song!” Odin crowed, punching the air.

“We’re not away yet,” Leo mumbled. He wriggled between the two front seats to clamber into the back. Today had involved far too much climbing.

“Are you aware that you’re not wearing any shoes?” Niles asked as he clicked his seatbelt into place.

“Oh, shit,” Leo said, covering his sweaty face with his hand. “I left them in Hans’s car.”

“So Hans was your match made in wifi? How the machine has led us astray!”

“Gods, no, I’d have glassed him and gotten out of there at once if it had been.” He pushed his fringe out of his eyes. “My date was Takumi Hoshido.”

“A name! A name that – that, er-“

“He’s one of the Hoshido family,” Niles supplied. “As in, the company that owns White Night hotels.”

“A star-crossed romance for the ages?” Odin gasped. “Leo, say the word and I will infiltrate their heaviest guarded camp so you can be reunited with your lost love!”

“He’s pretty fit,” Niles said. “I hope you didn’t throw away a chance to hit that because of trifles like conflicts of business interests.”

“I didn’t realise it was him,” Leo said.

“The name provided no clue to you, the keenest of observers?”

“We used fake names.” He caught sight of their hopeful eyes in the rear-view mirror. “Eyes on the road, Odin!”

“But which-“

“I do hope-“

“I went with George,” Leo said. His friends groaned in unison.

“That’s dreadful,” Niles said. “No wonder everything went wrong.”

“I must agree that your choice of pseudonym was highly inauspicious!”

“A rookie mistake made you lose out on nookie.”

“There’s a reason no-one has used that word for a decade,” Leo said. “Anyway, so we went to the hotel room – which he was an ass about, by the way-“

“Like his are any better,” Odin said.

“Exactly! And he called the Nohrians soulless.”

“Soul is overrated,” Niles said. “Have you tried getting laid in a White Night? Last time I tried there was a cuddly toy on the bed.”

Leo decided not to mention that Elise had been pushing for a similar touch in their hotels.

“And it didn’t even vibrate,” Niles said, shaking his head.

“Should it have done?” Odin asked.

“So,” Leo interrupted, “We get in there, get, er.” He felt his cheeks burning.

“Shoeless?” Niles teased.

“Oh, yes,” Leo said. “Odin, do you check which way out your socks are before you put them on?”

“Of course! The majestic patterns would be spoiled if they were inside out!”

“Oh my god,” Niles purred. “You had your socks inside out?”

“Perhaps,” Leo lied. That was less embarrassing that the truth. “So he flaunted that there was a correct way to wear them.”

“Leo,” Niles said, his voice unusually grave, “We need to have an intervention for your sex life.”

“I am simply skimping on the steamier bits,” Leo muttered. “This is an explanation, not some smutty Penthouse reader’s story.”

Odin and Niles shared a blank look.

“As I was saying,” Leo hurriedly continued, “We were otherwise engaged when the door burst open-“

“Kinky,” Niles purred.

“And Iago walked in.”

“No!” Odin gasped. “Whilst you were coupling with the enemy?”

“That’s the thing: I didn’t know he was the enemy. Iago did.”

“Oh, milord, but you did,” Niles said.

“No, I didn’t.”

“But of course you did. This was an espionage mission,” Niles said.

“Ooh!” said Odin.

“You were alerted to a chink in the armour of our chief rivals,” Niles continued. “You’d heard word that Takumi had a liking for hot blonds and decided to exploit this rumour. You were sacrificing yourself for the family.”

“Some exploit,” Leo said. “I doubt anyone cares what colour underpants he wears.”

“Ah, but had you not been interrupted,” Niles said, wagging a finger at him, “You would have teased valuable information out of him. And more, of course.”

“That’s…not a bad plan, Niles,” Leo said.

“Thank you, milord.” Niles grinned. “Plus it leaves you an opening to go after his brother.”

“I can’t go after his brother!”

“Why not?” Niles took his phone out and pulled up his picture. “He’s pretty fit too.”

“Because I’ve been involved with his brother!”

“Barely.” Niles frowned. “Hang on, you didn’t even get down past the underpants?”

“Not…not entirely,” Leo said, sinking low in his seat.

“Aww!” Odin said.

“Sympathy is not necessary.”

“Sympathy is very necessary,” Niles disagreed. “Aw, poor Leo.”

“Poor Leo!” Odin echoed.

Leo kicked the back of Niles’s chair.

 

* * *

  


Garon summoned Leo to the London office for 8am the next morning.  He sent the order late that evening, forcing Leo and his loyal associates onto a train at the crack of dawn. The three of them sat in the first class cabin nursing hot drinks and, in Odin’s case, a steaming hot sausage sandwich.

“You will need all the strength you can muster for this battle of wits!” Odin said as the server came down the aisle again. “Don’t you think it would be wise to fuel yourself with more than mere caffeine?”

“I’m struggling to keep this coffee down,” Leo said, swirling the contents of his cup. “Anything more is just inviting trouble.”

“Niles, are you going to let yourself go into battle weakened?” Odin asked, turning his attention over. “Leo needs our full support!”

“Maybe in an hour,” Niles said. His eyes were only half open. “I don’t feel coordinated enough to eat right now.”

“Did you summon your siblings for aid?” Odin asked, going back to Leo.

“Camilla’s in the States.  Xander’s in China. Elise could have made it, but then she asked why and I chickened out.”

“Did you consult the others on the situation?”

“I kind of tried to ask Camilla.” Leo put his coffee cup aside and slouched over the table. “Asked what she thought would happen if our personal lives conflicted with the business.”

“What did she say?” Niles asked.

“She asked if I needed someone ‘taking care of’.”

“Shame that you can’t have Iago handled like that,” Niles mused. “But your father wouldn’t allow it.”

“He’d see us dead before Iago,” Leo agreed. He glanced up at Niles. “The plan. It will work, won’t it?”

“I have boarding passes in case it doesn’t.”

“See, I don’t know whether to be comforted that you’ve taken those precautions or worried that you think they might be necessary.” Leo buried his head in his hands. “I should have known it was a terrible idea.”

“The plan?” Niles asked, disgruntled.

“No, the – the whole situation. I should never have downloaded the app, then I shouldn’t have contacted anyone-“

“A spontaneous encounter might have been harder for Iago to interrupt,” Niles said, “Though I think your mistake was taking him to the hotel room. Far too obvious.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Leo bristled. “Where should I have taken him?”

“A closet,” Niles began, ticking options off on his fingers. “The bathroom. Behind the front desk.”

“I think your option was the nobler one,” Odin said to Leo.

“But clearly it was traceable,” Niles said. “Tell me you didn’t pay by card.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Leo said. “I used Odin’s.”

“That is only very slightly better,” said Niles. “Also, I’m wounded that you didn’t use mine.”

“Yours was my first choice, actually. I thought that another hotel room would be impossible to spot amongst all the others you book.”

“You flatter me!” Niles said, flashing a toothy grin.

“But you maxed it out last week at the event in Glasgow.”

“Ah, I remember now.” Niles smiled fondly. “Good times. Valuable connections were made that night.”

 

* * *

 

Leo walked into the building with his friends flanking him on either side. The few staff that were around at that hour seemed to be avoiding him as though unwilling to be seen consorting with someone who’d fallen out of grace with President Garon – or perhaps that was just a side effect of being with Odin the loquacious and Niles the lech. Either way, it did nothing to bolster his confidence.

Odin stepped forward to knock on Garon’s office door but Leo waved him back. Odin seemed to view knocking as a way of expressing his musical talent (or lack of it) and Garon’s mood would not be improved with an impromptu drum solo on his door. Leo rapped smartly on the door and waited for a response.

“Enter!” Garon boomed. Leo opened the door and stepped inside. Odin and Niles made to follow him but Garon struck out his palm. “Alone.”

“We will be with you in spirit!” Odin whispered as Niles pulled the door closed.

Leo glanced around the room. Father was seated behind his desk, his arms laid out on both rests like a king on his throne. Iago stood to one side, almost ready to dissolve into the corner, and Hans stuck out on the other. Hans never looked right in a business setting; every time he wore a suit it looked Hans had taken it by force from its original owner whose body shape was invariably different from his own.

“Good morning, father,” Leo said.

“Is it good?” Garon growled, steepling his fingers. “I’ve had troubling reports about your behaviour.”

“I will admit, the morning would have been better had your lackeys not interfered with my reconnaissance mission.”

“The only mission you were on was-“ Hans began, but Garon cut him off.

“Explain yourself,” he said. “And it had better be excellent.”

“I would have thought it would be obvious,” Leo said. “I was plying him with alcohol and other temptations to learn more about the future plans for the White Night chain.”

“A lie!” Iago shrieked. “Leo was unaware of his true identity. The exchanges were anonymous.”

“Seemingly anonymous,” Leo said, staring coolly at Iago. “But you had your ways of finding out his identity. I have mine. Unfortunately, now the target knows my identity and will be wary of further attempts.”

“If he didn’t already know your true identity, you mean,” Iago said. “We cannot rule out the possibility that he was executing a plan similar to the one you claim to have been following.”

“Indeed,” Garon said. He laid his hands down on his chair once more; it was time for his verdict. Leo, who knew better than to interrupt at this stage, braced himself. “I appreciate your initiative, but you are in too valuable a position to risk compromising. You will not attempt to engage again.”

Leo nodded and managed a slight smile. “Thank you for your understanding, father. I am sorry I could not have been more successful.”

“Think no more of it. Now sit; we have much else to discuss.”

Leo gratefully took the seat in front of his father’s desk. Finally the pressure was off. Garon dismissed Iago and Hans with no more than a look and then father and son got down to business.

It was midday before Leo emerged from Garon’s office. Odin and Niles were still waiting out in the corridor for him. He flashed them a quick grin but didn’t say anything until they’d reached the relative privacy of the elevator.

“I’m off the hook but I’ve got to stay away from that asshole,” Leo said once the doors had closed around them.

“By ‘asshole’, do you mean the person or-“

“The entire person, Niles.”

“Will this affect your position on the luxury hotel panel at next month’s conference?” Odin asked. Leo quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Why on Earth would it?”

“I did a little espionage of my own utilising the wonders of the invisible internet,” Odin explained, waving his phone. “The fates have decreed that he will be sitting on that very same panel.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m honoured that you’ve deigned to meet with me,” Leo said. He curled his fingers around the bowl-like mug of hot chocolate. The cup was pleasantly toasty against his fingers but its contents would probably burn his tongue if he took a sip straight away. He resisted; he wanted Corrin to see him as an adult rather than a childish younger brother.

“I thought it would be best after hearing about your date from Takumi.” Corrin, who seemed oblivious to heat, took a gulp of her steaming espresso. Leo privately thought that she’d benefit more from a nap than caffeine straight after coming off a plane, but she had insisted on meeting him as soon as possible.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a date,” Leo said, frowning slightly at his sister.

“No? What are the kids calling it these days?” she asked, failing to stifle a yawn. Leo wondered whether taking a table with armchairs had been a bad idea; Corrin looked like she might drift off to sleep at any moment.

“I had no idea that your generation had missed out entirely when it came to meaningless sex,” Leo said icily. Corrin’s eyes widened and she put her mug down. “Oh, did your other younger brother somehow forget to mention that minor detail?”

“In retrospect he was a little hazy on the exact circumstances,” Corrin said. “But he was very clear that he thought you were being an ass.”

“He thought _I_ was the ass? He’s the one that insulted the hotel room and ran off with the champagne!”

“One of your hotel’s rooms?”

“Gods, no, do you think I wanted Father to know?”

“Probably not, but I expect that he does now.”

“Indeed.”

Corrin looked at him expectantly. Leo shrugged.

“It’s fine,” he said. “I told him that I was only doing it to prise company secrets from him.”

“Leo!” Corrin said, slamming her mug on the table. She muttered a curse as the hot liquid hit her fingers. Leo began mopping up the spill with his napkin but she shooed away his help.

“It’s all right; Father doesn’t expect me to continue with it.”

“Yes, that’s clearly what I was concerned about,” Corrin spat. “Don’t you think it might be time to stand up for yourself rather than concealing what you want with lies?”

“To be frank, I don’t really want your brother all that much,” Leo said, leaning back in his seat. “Physically, I had no complaints – from what I saw, at least – but his personality did not make me eager to reschedule a second attempt after our first failed encounter.”

“You know, I told Takumi that he’d probably just gotten a bad first impression of you. He was quite offended when I said that you two were similar. Now, I see why.” Corrin stood up. “I’ll be leaving now.”

“Is that so?” Leo asked, not bothering to disguise the bitterness in his voice. “It was so good to finally see you again after you left us for your birth family. I’ll have to bed another of your biological siblings so that we can do this again.”

Corrin stared at him, mouth open in shock, then shook her head in disbelief. “You really have become your father’s son.”

The potential scathing retorts to such a statement were plentiful, but Leo found his throat constricted and the words unable to come out as Corrin swept out of the café. Leo lifted his mug to his lips and finally sipped the scalding liquid.

 

* * *

 

 

The roof of his mouth still stung from the burn as Odin reported back to him on something that had once seemed very important. Odin, sensing his boss’s disengagement, tried to spice up his presentation with wild gesticulation and impromptu verse, but Leo just couldn’t bring himself to care about hotels that afternoon.

“Thanks, Odin,” he said, managing a small smile. “I appreciate your effort and will review it again later.”

“Did your traitorous sister spike your drink?” Odin asked, still looking like a puppy that couldn’t understand why its owners were too busy to play.

“The only thing spiky about our meeting was her words,” Leo said. “But it’s only to be expected; of course I would be secondary to her precious birth brother. Especially since he got to her first with some sob story about a date gone wrong.”

“Did you tell her that you were just there to bang him?” Niles asked, looking up from his phone at last.

“Not quite so explicitly, but I think she got the gist,” Leo said. “Not that it helped my case any.”

“But you were as much a victim in Iago’s meddling as he was!” Odin wailed.

“Mm, but she asked how Father had taken the news when he inevitably received it…”

“Tell me that you didn’t tell her the truth,” Niles said, rolling his eye.

“If I hadn’t she might have gone to him to plead my case. Do you think that would have helped me any?”

“It might have been wise to fudge some of the details,” Niles said. “Corrin is very idealistic.”

“Which is precisely what will cause her downfall!” Odin said, leaping back into the conversation and also onto the table. Leo and Niles looked at him. “Er, not that mending relations with you would be a downfall,” he continued, sitting down beside them. “But she is incapable of staying mad at you.”

“She might manage it after I insinuated that I’d be chasing after her other siblings.” Leo scowled at Odin’s dropped jaw. “Oh, you know I’m not actually interested in them! But for her to swan in on the pretext of catching up, only to reprimand me for upsetting her precious other little brother…”

“I understand your aggravation,” Niles said. “I would also understand if you were interested in chasing her other siblings, but that’s not the central issue here.”

“Oh, believe me, she gave me grief about capitulating to Father,” Leo said. Niles hummed thoughtfully.

“All right, there may be two central issues,” he said. “Your father, who is your only parental figure – unlike Corrin, who gained another along with an additional entire family – and Corrin’s conflicting emotions while her two baby brothers are bickering.”

Leo gave Niles the dirtiest scowl he could muster. “Given what we were attempting to engage in, Niles, I don’t think the ‘baby’ adjective is appropriate here.”

“To you, certainly. But to her you will always be a baby. Add to it that you were likely unrepentant about upsetting her other brother…”

“I was hardly going to be sobbing into my pillow over it, was I? What did she want me to say? ‘Sorry that I was brusque with your brother, but I assure you that he had no complaints until our privacy was violated’?”

“A perfect apology, my lord!” Odin cried. Niles chewed his lip thoughtfully.

“I imagine it would have gone down better than whatever you did say, but as I wasn’t there I can’t say for sure.”

 “Speaking of eavesdropping,” Leo said, “Did you manage to sort out a proper replacement for my phone?”

“Aha!” Odin pointed an accusing finger at Leo. It would have been more effective were they not sitting side by side, with Odin’s fingertip practically touching the tip of Leo’s nose. Odin seemed to realise this in a rare moment of self-awareness. He dropped the finger quickly. “I knew that you would not be able to survive long without the counsel and distraction of a polymathic phone!”

“Yes, I do miss being able to track my emails on the go,” Leo said.

“Oh? So should I uninstall your usual gaming vices from this fresh device?” Odin asked, pulling a phone out of his pocket. Leo tried to snatch it from him but Odin quickly slipped it to Niles. “Niles, our lord is spurning the temptations of mindless tomfoolery. Erase them from existence at once!”

“Sure thing,” Niles said. “Want a parental lock so he can’t download new apps while I’m at it?”

“Fine!” Leo huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He knew when he was beaten. “I might also have liked being able to read trash on the internet and play vapid clicking games. Satisfied?”

“For now,” Niles said, handing the phone over. “Speaking of re-using apps, will you be giving a certain hook-up app another try?”

“No, I think two failed attempts are more than enough for me,” Leo said, looking over his new device. It looked much the same as his old one, both externally and in terms of operating system, but the background photo of Odin and Niles posing was new. “I see that you checked the camera was functional.”

“I thought it would be terrible if it was only found to be defective after discovering that you’d lost a moment you’d intended to capture for a lifetime,” Niles said.

“How thoughtful.”

“Though,” Niles continued, “If you’re taking yourself out of the meat market, I don’t know what you’d want to take shots of.”

 “There’s a museum exhibit opening tomorrow evening on eighteenth century small arms,” Leo said. “Maybe I’ll want to use it then.”

“Fascinating,” Niles said. “Will the hands be small too?”

“That is exactly why you’re not invited.”

“Ah, to see long hidden weaponry that stole lives long ago!” Odin sighed. “To touch even one would imbue anyone with unimaginable dark power.”

“No,” Leo said, flatly. “You’re not coming if you’re going to go poking at things. Can you promise that you’ll keep your hands to yourself?”

“I can promise you the sun and the moon!” Odin said, spinning his arms through the air to illustrate the point.

“But would you deliver them?” Leo asked.

Odin sagged. “Probably not.”

Unfortunately for Leo, this meant that his entire social circle was ruled out. He always tried to act as though he didn’t care when he went to events alone but it was hard not to feel out of place when it seemed like everyone else came in neat little pairs.

The small arms exhibit was no exception. Leo tried to focus on the fantastic display items and the half-way decent copy explaining each one, but he still found himself wishing that he had someone to share the experience with. He stared glumly at the elegant Queen Anne pistols, wondering if he should just give up and go home.

“Not enjoying the exhibit?” someone asked behind him. The voice was somewhat familiar, but Leo had to turn around to place it. Takumi stood there, arms crossed over his chest. “You might want to work on a better cover for stalking me next time.”

“And why would I deliberately inflict myself with your company?” Leo asked. “You’re not exactly interesting when you’ve got your clothes on.”

“Corrin spilled the details of your sordid little plan,” Takumi said. “Shame you oversold your seductive abilities, huh?”

“I don’t recall any complaints prior to our interruption,” Leo said. “Is that the sort of pitiful revisionism that you look for in your history books, too?”

 “It’s called giving someone the benefit of the doubt,” Takumi said. “If you got off your high horse every so often you might be able to try it out.”

“How very philanthropic of you,” Leo said. “Do you give out many of those pity lays?”

“Are you hoping for a second chance?”

“I’m sure your dear sister wouldn’t want you debasing yourself like that,” Leo said, his lips curling into a smirk. “Don’t disappoint her for my sake.”

Something clouded over Takumi’s expression that Leo couldn’t make out. “I can make my own decisions.”

“Really? From the earful she gave me I thought she was your moral compass. Only because I knew she wasn’t your parent, I might add.”

“Ahem,” a red haired woman said, tapping her foot in annoyance. “Can you two take your tantrums somewhere that’s not in the way of the exhibits? Thanks.”

“Oh,” Leo said, remembering where he was. This was not exactly how someone of his position should be behaving in public. He wasn’t exactly high-profile, but the press had been interested in his family before.

“Um,” Takumi said, seemingly coming to a similar realisation. “Sorry. I’ll just-“

“I apologise,” Leo cut in, his voice silky smooth. “You know what they say about arguing with fools-“

“Let’s just get out of the lady’s way,” Takumi said, dragging Leo away from the display. “I think she’s had enough of your attempts at wit.”

“I’ll have you know I’m as serious as the grave,” Leo huffed, tugging himself free from Takumi’s grip as they moved out of the way.

“Oh, so you are dying to get back in my pants,” Takumi said with a smirk.

“I wouldn’t be seen dead in those,” Leo said, purely to claw back some standing in their exchange; he’d failed to establish a position on Takumi’s trousers before now. But now he’d said it, he glanced down at them in case there was something else he could use. All he found was Takumi’s rather nice ass. The man was annoyance incarnate but he did look good. “You should get out of them as soon as possible.”

 “You could have just said ‘yes’,” Takumi said, shaking his head.

“I’ll try to dumb my speech down for you,” Leo said. “Yes, I am fairly interested in doing things to your body.”

“’Fairly’?” Takumi echoed. “Wow, way to make a guy feel special.”

“You’re not special; you’re just handy.”

“You know, you’d make a more convincing argument if you shut up and let your looks do the talking.”

“I’m hearing a lot of words but no decision,” Leo said. “Do you want me to check the gift shop for a magic eight ball?”

“It’s hard when you keep talking me out of one,” Takumi said. “Anyway-“

Exactly which way Takumi would have taken them Leo never found out. A woman who wore her hair tied back like Takumi rushed over at that moment and grabbed him by the sleeve.

“We’ve got to go,” she said. “I swear, I only took my eyes off him for a second-“

Takumi closed his eyes. “I can believe that. Has he been kicked out?”

“Yeah, but only after I talked them down from pressing charges.”

“Good work.” Takumi opened his eyes again and nodded curtly at Leo. “Looks like I’ve been saved from your presence again.”

“Have fun with your babysitters,” Leo called after him. He watched the two of them head towards the exit. For some reason he felt deflated. Not because his cock had stirred only to be abandoned again; he was accustomed to taking care of himself. It was something else. He wouldn’t say that bickering with Takumi had been fun, but it had been…invigorating.

He put his hands in his pockets and felt cardboard rectangles that had previously just been a formality. Now they felt like a possibility.

He dashed after Takumi and caught him by the arm. He pushed one of his business cards into his hand.

“Just in case you want to try making your own decisions for once,” he said. “For now I’ll go rejoin the adults with culture.”

He hurried back to the exhibit before Takumi could make a comeback. His heart was racing in a way he hadn’t felt for years and he couldn’t stop the grin spreading over his face. Maybe this was just a little bit fun after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to everyone who left comments and kudos on the first chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty much 1/3 filth, so don't read it where easily scandalised people can read over your shoulder. Also I swear there's plot development here, honest.
> 
> Thanks again to everyone who's commented or left kudos! It really perks me up to see people enjoying this.

Leo was very particular about keeping his phone close at hand in the days following the exhibition. He didn’t share what went down with Odin and Niles. Odin had been sulking because a friend of his had gone along and supposedly got to brandish a genuine hand cannon and Niles seemed to have his head elsewhere. Besides, he knew that both of them would be disappointed in the way the story ended – Odin would want to hear about a fantastic brawl and Niles would make pointed comments about supply closets and missed opportunities.

Truthfully, Leo didn’t know what he wanted out of Takumi. He knew very little about Takumi’s role in the rival company, not even which country he usually worked in, and in spite of the line he’d fed to Garon about corporate espionage he doubted that Takumi would know anything of value. It was enjoyable to rile Takumi up – surprisingly satisfying considering how easy it was to do – but there were hundreds of people he could cut up with his sharp tongue. His interest in Takumi was higher than it should be if that was his primary motivation.

 Takumi was attractive, certainly, and Leo had satisfied himself more than once by imagining what could have happened between them. However, there wasn’t a sufficient shortage of attractive people for him to need to bother with the only one who would infuriate his father.

He drummed his fingers on his desk and glanced down at his phone. No messages, no calls – plenty of emails, of course, but none of them distracting in the way he was craving.

His office door was flung open. Odin strode inside.

“Odin, what did I say about keeping your shirt buttoned up during core office hours?” Leo asked.

“The sun’s rays are strong today,” Odin said, losing some of the confidence that he’d entered the room with. “It would be inhumane to bind a man’s neck in this heat!”

“You don’t have to wear a tie but I would rather not see your navel.”

“If that is what you wish, milord,” Odin muttered, buttoning up his shirt and lowering the amount of flesh shown from scandalous to merely inappropriate. “I have a request of you.”

“Let’s hear it.” Leo propped his chin in his hands. “I suppose I could use a distraction.”

“I wish for you to assign me a quest.”

“If you need something to do, the webpage could-“

“Not a mundane trifle like that!”

“Oh,” Leo said. He supposed it was too much to hope that his PR and webmaster would keep his online presence current. “What did you have in mind?”

“Something adventurous!”

“IT are trialling a new platform…” Leo trailed off as Odin wailed in frustration.

“My peers are involved with tailing criminals and attempting to infiltrate heavily guarded fortresses!”

“Niles is doing _what_ now?”

“Not that lout,” Odin huffed. Leo guessed that Niles had snatched the last chocolate doughnut today. “My friends.”

“And what exactly do your friends do as their day jobs?”

“Oh, you know,” Odin said, waving a hand vaguely. “Stuff. For hotels, I think.”

“I…I think you might want to double check that,” Leo said. “Besides, what would I have you infiltrate?”

The door opened again.

“Knock knock,” Niles said. “What’s going on in here?”

“Odin is unmotivated by his workload,” Leo said. “And he’s forgotten that he works in an office, not in a warzone.”

“You should shape up a bit, Odin,” Niles said, grinning wickedly. “IT have just filled the web editor position and I hear that he’s keen to come work under our lordship.”

“Me? Why?” Leo asked. Niles shrugged.

“I suppose your star must be on the rise,” he said. “In spite of Odin nearly losing your cover place for _Esquire_.”

“Huh?” Odin scratched his head. “Oh, yeah, I meant to get back to them about that. Could have sworn I wrote a post-it to remind me… More than one, now I think about it.”

“Did you see any of these?” Niles asked Leo. “You’ve been hovering about Odin’s desk more than usual lately.”

“I can’t remember,” Leo said. He felt his cheeks burning. “Must have been the wind blowing them away.”

“It must,” Niles agreed. “You will be pleased to hear that I managed to smooth it over with the magazine.”

“Oh, good,” Leo said.

“You’ll be meeting with them tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? But I have-“ Leo flicked through his calendar desperately. “A very important update to install on my computer.”

“I’m sure that your computer will manage in your absence. Incidentally, are you allergic to any oils?”

“How is that ‘incidentally’?” Leo asked suspiciously. His eyes widened in horror. “Oh. Oh, no.”

 

* * *

 

“Open the shirt up a little more,” the photographer ordered. Leo sat awkwardly as one of the photographer’s lackeys fiddled with his shirt. He wished that he was allowed to adjust his own clothing, but the photographer had already scolded him for interfering with her vision. “I think we need more oil. We want his chest to really glisten.”

“On it!” her assistant chirped. Leo bet that he wouldn’t be so chipper if he was the one being oiled up beneath his suit and expected to stay perfectly still while they got the shot set up.

“Get the makeup artist, too,” the photographer said, peering through her camera. “I said I wanted strobing on those cheekbones and they’re just wasted at the moment.”

“They seem to be functioning perfectly to me,” Leo huffed. “Unless they’ve caved in under the glop that’s been smeared over my face and no-one’s told me.”

“Your cheekbones continue to stand tall and strong like the mightiest of oaks!” Odin called. He was in good spirits; the photographer had agreed with him that open shirts were the way of the future. Leo’s protests that they were not exactly professional had been entirely ignored.

“Oh, good,” Leo said. The makeup artist was brushing something over his cheeks now while the assistant was oiling the triangle of exposed skin beneath his neck.

“And you already have a fan wanting to see your picture!” Odin continued. Niles looked over Odin’s shoulder at Leo’s phone. Leo knew that leaving his phone behind was a mistake, even if having it in his pocket ‘made the clothes hand wrong’ according to the photographer. A grin blossomed over Niles’s face and Leo suddenly found himself wishing that he hadn’t given his business card out.

“I don’t think that’s a request for this picture,” Niles said, smirking at Leo.

“Bring it here,” Leo hissed, trying to stand up. The assistant forced him back down with a frown.

“Stay there,” he said, gesturing with the bottle of oil. “We’ll let you know when you can get up.”

Sitting under searing hot lights while someone ordered him on how to pose, right down to which corner of his mouth he should smile with, was already torturous enough. Having to sit back and wait it out while Odin and Niles were left with his phone and a mysterious message (presumably from Takumi) was nearly unbearable.

As soon as the photographer announced that it was a wrap Leo leapt up but he was immediately swept away to meet with the interviewer. Leo had completely forgotten about that element. Usually it was the most tolerable part of the process but today he could barely follow the questions, let alone answer them. He fumbled his way through the interview and dashed out as soon as the interviewer put down the recorder. Odin was waiting outside with what seemed like half of the buffet in his hands.

“Phone,” he demanded of Odin, his hand outstretched.

“Oh, Niles has it,” Odin said, his mouth full of snacks. “He said he needed to check something out.”

Leo swore in a totally inappropriate manner. There were many reasons that Niles could have wanted to use his phone but none of them were good.

“Where’s Niles right now?”

“Outside,” said Odin. “In search of a powerful signal that-“

Leo was running outside before Odin finished his sentence. He didn’t care that his shirt was half open and his chest was still slick with oil; he needed to stop Niles from doing whatever it was he was doing.

Niles was talking on the phone just outside the lobby doors, Leo’s phone in his hand. He held up the hand holding Leo’s phone, fingers outstretched, as Leo approached.

“That’s great, thanks,” Niles said, then hung up. He tossed Leo’s phone back to him.

“What were you doing?” Leo said, already opening up his phone to see what damage had been done.

“Checking who has been sending my boss rude texts, of course,” Niles said.

“I think I know who it was,” Leo said.

“Do you? It came from a number you didn’t have listed, so I’d be interested in knowing how you knew that.”

“I have a good idea who it was,” Leo clarified.

“But I’m guessing you gave out your number and didn’t get one in return. Who’s to say that it didn’t get passed on?”

“Fine, fine,” Leo said. “So whose number was it?”

“Oh, but I thought you knew?” Niles grinned wickedly at him. “Tell me your guess and I’ll tell you if it’s right.”

“I am your boss,” Leo argued. Niles waggled a finger.

“Wrong answer. Want to try again?”

“We both know who it was,” Leo whined. “Don’t make me say.”

“You’re just drawing out your own suffering,” Niles said.

“Fine.” Leo took a deep breath. “It was Takumi.”

“Very good, my lord.” Niles patted him on the shoulder. “It does indeed seem that your little friend Takumi is thirsty for you.”

“He’s not my friend,” Leo muttered. He finally remembered that they were stood out on a main street in a major city and he was barely decent. He buttoned up the shirt, but there was nothing to be done about the heavy makeup without a hardcore cleanser. “Can we take this inside? Or grab Odin and get out of here?”

“I am present!” Odin chimed, making Leo jump. “Your furtive demeanour made me curious so I hung back to drop eaves.”

“Wonderful,” Leo said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “Is humiliating me an essential part of your contracts or can we swap it for a hefty raise next year?”

“It’s a priceless perk of the job,” Niles said. “Odin, did you call a cab?”

“It is speeding this way as we speak!”

“Excellent. In the meantime, I think we need to go over some precautions for safe sexts.”

Leo wished that the cab could speed a little faster.

 

* * *

 

 

Leo didn’t dare to check his messages until he was safely back at the penthouse with the bedroom door locked. Whenever he’d reached for his phone in the cab Odin had leaned in eagerly and Niles smirked knowingly and no-one could be expected to handle that kind of harassment.

There was a knock on the door.

“I’m going to take a nap,” Leo lied, feeling like a teenager again.

“Ah, do sleep well,” Niles said.

“I will.”

“And remember not to have your face or any identifying features in the shot.”

“Niles!”

He heard his personal assistant cackling, but thankfully the sound grew fainter as Niles went down the hallway to someplace else. Leo breathed a heavy sigh. It had seemed like such a good idea to have assistants doubling as bodyguards living with him; where had it all gone wrong?

It had probably gone wrong when he picked those two, he supposed.

He settled down on his kingsize bed and waited in case Odin wanted to pass by and make some comments. It didn’t seem to be happening, so Leo decided he was as safe as he was ever going to be. Nervously, he opened up the message centre on his phone.

“Bored. Want to entertain me?” read the first message. Leo arched an eyebrow and read on.

“I’m not in a reading mood, by the way. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

It was more or less what he expected, given what Odin and Niles had alluded to during the photoshoot and, later, some of Niles’s more explicit instructions. Leo bit his lip and replied.

“Do you often solicit during working hours? Would be happy to show you mine but I’m lacking inspiration. In other words, you first.”

He felt his stomach lurch as he hit send. He hoped that Niles’s intel on the number’s owner was solid. He waited, impatiently, for a few moments before realising that, after waiting so long for him to respond, Takumi was unlikely to be ready to respond immediately. He cursed the stupid magazine that had caused so much unpleasantness for him.

As he searched his mind for a suitable distraction – much like Takumi, he was not in a mood for reading right now – his phone lit up.

“Less words, more skin. I’ll show you how it’s done, coward.”

Leo unconsciously held his breath until his phone beeped again and the image came through.  He hoped that Takumi hadn’t taken this in the office; he was only half dressed in his boxers, which had been pulled back to let his erect cock take centre stage in the middle of the shot. His hand cupped around the base of his cock, almost as though the photo had been shot between strokes. Leo supposed that it might well have been.

He leaned back, glad that he’d not gotten around to wiping off his chest, and unbuttoned his shirt halfway. He held up his phone and took a practice shot of his body. It beeped to let him know that there was another message. Leo glanced over the shot – using only the bedside lighting had been a good, though accidental, move – and then read the waiting message.

“Your move.”

“Patience,” Leo typed back. “Some of us have only just finished for the day.”

He attached the clothed picture to tide Takumi over and unfastened his straining trousers. He pulled out his swollen cock and took another shot. It was fine – his cock stood out against the surrounding white of his shirt – but he had no interest in staring at his own body. He sent the photo to Takumi, then scrolled back up to look at the image he’d been sent.

He found himself rubbing his cock without thinking about it, holding it in the same way Takumi had held his cock in the photo. His tip beaded with precum as he imagined Takumi touching himself, maybe even right now, as he was looking at Leo’s picture. He bit down on his lip as he pumped faster, his grip tightening as he pretended it was Takumi he was pleasuring.

His phone beeped again. No words, this time, but a photo of Takumi’s arched back, his hand holding his spent cock and glistening threads of white cum over his chest. Leo fell over the brink, his own cock spilling over his hand and shirt in a much less artistic manner. He closed his eyes, panting, and wondered if this was an acceptable time to use emojis rather than words. He could barely string a sentence but he felt like it would be poor form not to reply. Obviously, taking a less well composed shot than Takumi’s was completely out of the question.

“Good show,” he sent.

“You too,” Takumi replied moments later. “You’re so much more enjoyable when you’re not talking.”

“Likewise,” Leo replied. His mouth twitched into a smile. “I feel like there’s an obvious solution here, sharp-shooter sixty nine.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like last time there is a considerable amount of smut in this chapter, so I advise you to read it away from impressionable or easily offended eyes!

“It’s just inexplicable,” Odin said as Leo approached the kitchen the next morning. Leo was about to stride in and ask what mysteries Odin was struggling with today when Odin continued. “Why is he pursuing this Takumi of all people?”

Leo stopped short of the doorway and hung back out of sight to wait for Niles’s reply.

“Takumi gets him hot under his fully-buttoned up collar. What’s there to not understand?”

“But if his father found out about this dalliance-“

“You do know that probably makes it hotter, right?”

Leo heard the scrape of chair legs on tile and slunk further from the doorway. Odin hummed as the tap sprayed water.

“But it’s not like him pursue the less well-reasoned path,” Odin said at last.

“I guess he has a lot of rebelling to catch up on,” Niles said. “When’s the last time he did something not condoned by his family?”

“Camilla told me only last week that I should use sunscreen more,” Leo said, finally crossing the threshold into the room. Odin looked abashed at his entrance but Niles merely nodded in his direction. “I’m afraid that I’ve still not bothered to pick any up.”

“A rebellion that will go down in history,” Niles said. “Though if you don’t want to risk her swooping down and smearing it over you in public I’d probably take her advice.”

“I’ll have to find another cause to fight against,” Leo said, taking a croissant from a plate on the kitchen island. He tore off a piece and chewed it thoughtfully. “Maybe I’ll cancel one of those charity monthly donations Elise cajoled me into subscribing to.”

“You could ride a magnificent motorbike and tear through the streets like a horseman of the apocalypse!” Odin cried out, clutching the counter excitedly.

“Odin, get your phone out,” Leo said. Odin, puzzled, did as he was directed. “Google: ‘Motorbike accident statistics’. If that doesn’t convince you, try an image search.”

“But we could be a motley crew of villainous business-bikers,” Odin said, pouting.

“Google ‘degloving’.”

“But we could weave through the traffic while the metal carriages are landlocked,” Odin whined. “It would knock minutes off our commute!”

“So would packing like sardines into the tube but we’re not doing that either.” Leo glanced at Niles, who was smiling beatifically as he watched over the city out of the window and sipped on his black coffee. He tried to keep his tone casual. “By the way, what’s my availability like this weekend?”

“Oh, you’re frightfully busy,” Niles said. Leo’s heart sunk.

“With what?” he asked, still trying to keep his voice light and unbothered.

“You’re the guest of honour at a new hotel opening,” Niles began, “And you’ve got a consultation with an interior designer about their final designs for the Heathrow rejuvenation. That’s just Saturday. On Sunday-“

Leo waved him off. “I get the picture,” he said, the façade failing him. He huffed at Odin’s curious expression. “What, is it so inconceivable that I might appreciate a free weekend?”

“I am more surprised at you not having faith in your personal calendar and not seeing through Niles’s treacherous teasing!” Odin exclaimed. He brushed Leo’s fringe aside and checked his temperature. “Have you fallen ill? Is that why you are so keen for a peaceful weekend?”

“Yes,” Leo said. Niles snorted.

“In that case, I’d better reschedule your Saturday appointment,” he said. “The one you popped in late last night.”

Leo flushed. “I marked that as private.” His brow creased as doubt crept in. “…Didn’t I?”

“I suspect your mind was elsewhere.” Niles brought up Leo’s calendar on his phone and read aloud: “‘Bang Takumi’s ficking breads out’ didn’t seem like your usual style.”

“I didn’t say anything about bread!” Leo protested as Odin laughed.

“The wonders of autocorrect and sweaty fingers,” Niles cooed.

 

* * *

 

Leo’s stomach felt like it had been practicing for the Olympics all week. He was sure it had absolutely mastered the art of leaping and rolling, yet as he pulled up in the hotel car park it insisted in getting some more training in. No amount of telling himself that there was no need to be nervous seemed to be able to stop it from squirming.

His subordinates had been entirely unhelpful. Odin had suggested that this was a sign he should call it all off, “before truth spills out, followed by your blood o’er your father’s sword”, and Niles had presumed it was a performance issue and offered to get him some Viagra. They’d still tried to help, in their own ways (Odin by linking articles on dating someone your parents disapprove of, Niles by sending porn clips for ‘inspiration’), but while Leo appreciated their feelings he wished that he’d never opened up to them.

He couldn’t help but judge the hotel foyer as he entered. It was an entirely different beast to both his and Takumi’s chains: a stately home converted to a hotel designed for short breaks in the countryside and idyllic wedding settings. The walls were panelled in square wooden boxes from head to toe. He remembered touring a stately home as a child and learning that walls just like that had been used to conceal secret passages and had to resist the urge to press on a few panels.

His fingers grazed the walls – purely accidentally, of course – as he ascended the stairs to Takumi’s room. A hidden door completely failed to swing open and he couldn’t help but feel unreasonably disappointed. He fired off a quick text alerting Takumi to his arrival.

Two corridors later (stately homes often had illogical rooms numbering) he found himself outside Takumi’s room. He braced himself with a deep breath and knocked.

“Coming,” Takumi called. The door swung open soon after and Takumi jerked his head back. “Get in.”

“I do hope that was double-entendre rather than evidence of your poor manners,” Leo said, but he complied. Takumi shut the door behind him with a roll of his eyes.

“How many of your past partners resorted to using a ball gag on you?” Takumi asked.

“You don’t mean that,” Leo said, pushing Takumi against the wall. Takumi opened his mouth to object – whether to the pushing or what Leo said, Leo never found out – but only let out a hitched gasp of breath as Leo dropped to his knees and unzipped his fly. Leo nuzzled against the growing bulge in Takumi’s pants, pressed kisses from the base of his cock to the tip through the thin cotton, then pulled the underpants down to reveal Takumi’s erect cock. His heart skipped a beat; he’d been imagining this moment since before their first encounter.

Takumi’s head lolled back as Leo thumbed the head until precum started to pool. Leo pulled a flavoured condom out of his shirt pocket, unwrapped it out with practiced ease (literally practiced – he had bought a box and gone through them to make sure that he wouldn’t be fumbling like an inexperienced teenager) and unrolled it down Takumi’s cock.

Leo pressed his closed mouth to the tip and let his lips be parted as Takumi entered his mouth. He took him inside slowly, his hands on Takumi’s hips to keep him from pushing in impatiently, and glanced up to see how Takumi was reacting. Takumi immediately turned his head away, his cheeks flushed. That was just fine with Leo, who would take breaking down Takumi’s defences as a personal triumph.

He pulled his head back, almost far enough to take Takumi out of his mouth, then slid it back down again. Takumi’s hips trembled underneath Leo’s fingertips as he took him back inside. Leo’s tongue explored the head of Takumi’s cock, stroking from ridge up to the point where the shaft and head joined and back down again to the ridge again. Takumi laid a hand on his shoulder, but the casualness of the touch was undermined when a flick of Leo’s tongue made Takumi’s fingers dig in.

He wrapped his hand around the base of Takumi’s cock and rocked it back and forth as he sucked the head. Takumi’s hand moved from Leo’s shoulder to the back of his neck, pulling Leo closer in desperate search of release. His cock pulsed and expelled inside Leo’s mouth as Takumi groaned deeply. His grip on Leo slackened and he stroked Leo’s cheek with a thumb as Leo kept pumping him, draining him completely.  

Leo carefully extracted Takumi from his mouth and removed the condom. Takumi quickly brought his hand back as though he’d just realised what he was doing. Leo neatly tied the condom as he stood up then dropped it in the wastebin. He turned back to Takumi, ready to make some smart-ass comment, but Takumi pressed his mouth against Leo’s before he could say anything. Takumi’s tongue darted back as quickly as it came as Takumi pulled back, looking confused.

“Not accustomed to banana flavoured latex?” Leo asked, leading him by the hand to the bed.

“Yeah, that was a mistake,” Takumi said, shuddering. He opened a bottle of water that had been sitting on the desk and poured a glass, then hovered with the bottle over another glass while looking at Leo. Leo nodded as he sat on the edge of the bed. “I just wanted to stop you talking but I think that flavour was worse than anything you can think of.”

“Is that a challenge?” Leo asked, taking the glass.

“See, that’s exactly why I asked about the ball gag,” Takumi said. He drained the glass and set it back down. “And what kind of banana tastes like that?”

“Actually,” Leo began, but Takumi pressed a finger to his lips.

“Shush,” he said, “Unless you want me to argue with you when I could be doing something else with my mouth.”

Leo shut his mouth. Takumi kneeled in front of him and parted Leo’s knees. He ran his hands from Leo’s knees across his thighs. They briefly met at Leo’s crotch before one dipped down to cup Leo’s balls through his trousers while Takumi thumbed the clear outline of Leo’s hard cock. Takumi’s expression was focused, a drastic change from the lackadaisical attitude Leo had associated him with in the past. He slowly undid Leo’s zipper with the intensity of an artist studying his subject.

Leo had intended to watch every moment – he wasn’t going to turn shy like Takumi had; he wanted to be able to replay every second in his head – but watching his nemesis so intent on pleasuring him was overwhelming. The last thing he caught before closing his eyes was Takumi tucking a stray section of hair behind his ear before leaning in between Leo’s thighs.

Leo’s cock pulsed as Takumi took it in hand and unravelled a condom over it. He drew his tongue slowly up along its length then swirled along ridge of the head like he was catching drips from an ice cream cone. Leo bit hard on his lip as Takumi popped the tip into his mouth for a quick suck then went back to toying with him with another long, slow lick from base to tip. His toes curled as Takumi tickled the tip with his tongue.

 Then Takumi brought him into his mouth and everything became a blur. He gripped the bed covers with sweaty fists as he came closer and closer to climax. His back arched, his hips bucked and he shot his load into Takumi’s mouth with a cry. He opened his eyes again to see Takumi smugly pulling back and standing up. Leo flopped back onto the bed, completely spent.

“Don’t get too comfy,” Takumi said, his eyes heavy lidded. “I’m kicking you out before I fall asleep.”

“What, you don’t think you’ve got enough stamina for another round in the morning?” Leo asked. “Or do you just snore like a cement mixer?”

 “No, I’m just worried that you’ll drive me to murder if I have to spend all night with you,” Takumi said. “Seriously, do you ever stop?”

“Do you?”

“You’re not helping your case at all.”

“Fine,” Leo said. He stretched, yawning, and sat up.  “I’m going to freshen up with a shower before I drive home – unless you can’t stay awake for another five minutes?”

“Go for it,” Takumi said. He picked up the remote and started flicking through TV channels.

Leo had worried that Takumi would have managed to fall asleep in the short period of time he was in the shower but he returned to find him watching the TV with rapt attention. He shushed Leo as soon as he came out of the door. Leo scoffed and glanced over to see what he was watching so intently. He brightened up at the sight of a familiar face.

“Oh, Henry has a new show?” he said, perching on the edge of the bed.

“Like you’re on first name terms with him?” Takumi asked.

“I should think so,” Leo said. “I spent enough time in his office while working on my dissertation.” Takumi looked confused, with a dash of suspicion thrown in there for good measure.

“Your what?”

“Dissertation,” Leo said, arching an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me your university let you get away without doing one.”

“How would I know? You haven’t told me what it is,” Takumi said, rolling his eyes. “How about we switch to Japanese and I tease you about all the words you don’t know?”

“Oh,” Leo said, abashed. Takumi’s English was so well practised that he had forgotten it was his second language. “There would be plenty of those; I never studied Japanese.” Takumi looked smug and Leo had the urge to wipe that smirk away. “We can try Mandarin if you’d rather? Or perhaps French, Spanish or German?”

“Does anyone outside this tiny continent need French or German?” Takumi asked, shaking his head.

“Parts of Canada would be very upset to hear you say that.”

“I guess I should respect them for standing up against your colonising mother tongue.” Takumi chuckled at something Henry said onscreen that Leo had missed. “Was he like this in-person?”

“More so,” Leo said, “Especially if you revealed that you hadn’t read an article he was particularly passionate about. Oh, and don’t let him trick you into an argument with him about Boudica.”

“I guess I’ll allow that if he doesn’t argue with me about the Shinsengumi.”

They lapsed into silence, watching the show. Takumi cleared his throat when the adverts began. Leo turned, expecting to be reminded to leave, but Takumi was frowning.

“You studied History at university?” he asked. Leo nodded. “I assumed you took something like Management. You know,” he said, helpfully, “Something soulless.”

“Charming,” Leo said, “But no. Father cared more about me forging connections to mine in the future rather than application so I was permitted to study whatever got me into the best school possible – well, within reason,” he amended. “I once aired a passing thought about reading philosophy and I thought he was going to skin me alive.”

Takumi’s phone rang out. He grabbed it and sighed in exasperation when he read who was contacting him.

“I’d better get this,” he said. “It’s Kamui – I mean,” he said, frowning, “Corrin.”

Leo nodded. He knew what Takumi meant. Not answering one of Corrin’s calls was a quick way to be bombarded with many more. He’d tried ignoring those, too, once, and she’d barged into his room only a short while later, terrified that he was unconscious and bleeding out.

(Once, he had foolishly asked Camilla if Corrin treated her in that way. Camilla’s forehead had creased as though she was trying to solve a particularly troubling equation.

“Why on earth would I not have already picked up the phone? Am I tied up and being held hostage?” she asked. Leo didn’t bother asking his other siblings after that.)

“Yeah?” Takumi said, answering the phone. “Yup, it’s late. You’re – you’re where?”

Leo turned from the TV to look curiously at Takumi. He had hopped off the bed to pick up his clothes, along with Leo’s, which he threw unceremoniously at Leo.

“I’ve eaten already,” Takumi said. He faked a huge yawn. “And I’m so tired. I dunno if I can even handle a single drink before falling asleep.”

The situation started to dawn on Leo. He pulled on the clothes that had been thrown his way.

“What do you mean, Hinoka’s with you?” Takumi practically wailed. Leo would find it all highly amusing if it wasn’t that Corrin would hardly be delighted to see him at the moment. “This is not a great time for surprises!”

Leo couldn’t resist chuckling at that. Takumi narrowed his eyes. “Put Hinoka on,” he said, then switched languages and put the speakerphone on. Leo couldn’t tell what was being said between Takumi and his other sister, but from the dramatic sigh that erupted as soon as they hung up he surmised that it wasn’t good.

“They’re pulling up in the car park now,” Takumi said. “Please tell me that your car isn’t easily identifiable.”

“In this light?” Leo said, gesturing to the setting sun outside. “Probably not very obvious and Corrin doesn’t have an eye for cars. Unless she’s scanning the number plates we should be fine.”

“How about someone who is…a bit more interested in cars?” Takumi asked. “Who does, sometimes, point out interesting vehicles?”

“There were some other nice cars out there,” Leo said.

“As nice as whatever you rode up in?”

“You didn’t tell me to rent out some old banger before I came here!”

“Great,” Takumi groaned. “We’re going to be caught because you’re a flashy show-off.”

“Why did you tell your sister which hotel you were staying in for a booty call?” Leo countered. “That’s just asking for trouble.”

“I’m here on work business!” Takumi shouted. Leo sniggered. “Not like that,” Takumi said, flushing. “It’s because – wait, I’m not divulging company secrets to you!”

“Can you have an assistant waylay her while I make a getaway?”

“Fat chance,” Takumi said, scowling. “They’re on a ghost walk.”

“Good grief,” Leo said. “Is it a self-locking door on the room?” Takumi shook his head. “Damn. I’ll have to leave first, then – is there a bar or something else to hide out in nearby?”

“Where else around here do you think she wants to go?”

“Fucking fantastic,” Leo said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’ll go meet them,” Takumi said. “Divert them to the bar. You hang back on the top floor until I text you giving you the all-clear, okay?”

“Absent a teleportation device, I suppose that will have to do,” Leo said, opening his eyes again. Takumi sighed irritably at him.

“’Gee, thanks, Takumi,’” he said, putting on a terrible English accent, “’That’s an awfully spiffing plan you made with no help from me.’”

“No-one has said ‘spiffing’ for a decade,” Leo said. “But fine. Good job. Do you want a sticker, too?”

 Takumi pulled him out of the room and locked the door. Leo frowned.

“Hang on,” he said. Takumi looked at him expectantly. “How _do_ you know the word ‘ _spiffing’_?”

Takumi threw his hands up in the air in frustration as his phone rang. He answered it and started to dash away without another word to Leo.

“It’s a valid question!” Leo called, but Takumi didn’t reply before disappearing. Leo sighed and pulled his phone out to await permission to leave. He fired off a quick message to Niles and Odin informing them that his installation of time-wasting apps was now one hundred percent validated.

“He lasts that long?” Niles immediately asked. Leo regretted saying anything and decided it was wisest not to reply at all.

Soon – though not soon enough – he received a message simply saying, “Go go go,” from Takumi. Leo leapt into action and dashed down the stairs. His phone chimed again – probably Niles with another filthy comment – but Leo had no time for that right now. He was in the foyer, escape was so close-

“Leo?” a familiar voice said. Leo’s feet stuttered, struggling to keep moving against the orders of a family member, and he had to slow down not to fall over himself. “Leo!”

And there was Corrin. Leo tried to arrange his features into a nonchalant expression, one becoming of someone who wasn’t just running out of a hotel, but he suspected he was failing. “Hello,” he said. “Fancy seeing you…here?”

“You too!” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “I’m sorry about the other day – I was just so disappointed that things had gone so sourly between you and Ta…” She drifted off and pulled back from him.  “What _are_ you doing here?” she asked, her voice full of suspicion.

“Do I really need to answer that?” Leo asked, wincing.

“I’ll have to tell Takumi that you were here,” she said, folding her arms across her chest and scowling at him. Leo blinked.

“I would hope that he hadn’t forgotten already,” he said, only to regret it immediately. Corrin opened her mouth, shut it again, and then started to speak once more.

“He knows that you’re here?”

“He knows that I was here,” Leo said. “I’d rather hoped to be out of here by now. What did you think-“

Corrin turned red. “O-oh,” she stammered. “S-so you weren’t…spying on him?”

Leo wished he had thought of that excuse. “Absolutely,” he said. His phone chimed again. He wondered now if it had been Takumi, not Niles, trying to contact him. “He – he insulted me so much before, I simply had to-“

“What’s going on out here?” said a slightly rough, but warm, female voice. Corrin spun around.

“Hi, Hinoka,” she said. Leo could hear the forced smile even if he couldn’t see it. “I just ran into Leo here…”

“Leo?” The woman, who had short, red hair, cocked her head. “Your other little brother, right?” She grabbed Leo’s hand. He wasn’t sure if it was to crush it or to shake it until she practically wrenched his arm out of its socket in what he had to assume was a shake. “Nice to meet you!”

“Likewise,” Leo lied.

“Leo was just leaving,” Corrin said.

“Aw, but I’ve never met any of your other family before,” Hinoka said. “You’ve got time for a quick drink with your sis, haven’t you, Leo?”

She clapped an arm around his shoulders and led him to the bar. Corrin followed behind them. Takumi was sat in an armchair in the far corner, his attention flickering between his phone and the door. His eyes widened as Leo was marched inside by his eldest sister.

“We bumped into Corrin’s other little brother!” Hinoka announced to Takumi, mistaking his look of horror for confusion. “What are the odds, huh?”

“Not low enough, clearly,” Takumi said, scowling.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Hinoka said. She pushed Leo into an armchair before sinking into the sofa next to Corrin. “Sorry about him. He takes this whole business thing too seriously.”

“Someone has to take an internationally recognised brand seriously!”

“That’s what Ryoma’s for,” Hinoka said. “You should lighten up!”

“Maybe we should get off the topic of business,” Leo said. “After all, I am a business rival.”

“Ha, yeah, I guess we don’t want to blab our trade secrets!” Hinoka laughed. She pushed back her closely cropped hair. “Like Takumi’s good luck charm he always takes into meetings-“

“I do not!” Takumi protested, turning red.

“Hinoka, why don’t you tell Leo about your job?” Corrin suggested.

“Don’t you work in the family business too?” Leo asked Hinoka. She laughed.

“Nah, that was way too dull for me,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m a wrestler!”

“You’re pulling my leg,” Leo said, glancing from Hinoka to Corrin to Leo. Hinoka definitely looked strong enough, but he couldn’t imagine any of his siblings casting aside their paternally-given roles to become an entertainer.

“’Pulling my leg’?” Hinoka echoed.

“He means he thinks you’re teasing him,” Corrin translated. She pulled out her phone and brought up a video. There was Hinoka, in the wrestling ring with another woman who was putting up a valiant but futile effort.

“Oh,” Leo said. “Whatever did your parents think?”

“Dad thought it was hilarious at first, but I showed him!” Hinoka said proudly. “I’ve been defending my champion title for the past three years.”

“Congratulations,” Leo said. “But – didn’t he try to stop you?”

“Why would he?”

“Leo was brought up very strictly,” Corrin explained. “You’ve just shattered his world.”

“Father would have an aneurysm if I considered the entertainment industry,” Leo agreed.

“Such a loss for the world,” Takumi said. Leo was tempted to say that Takumi had seemed plenty entertained earlier, _in bed_ , but Corrin shot him a warning look.

“I see you weren’t tempted to follow in your sister’s footsteps,” he said instead. Hinoka laughed.

“He did when he was little!” she said. “We’d put on a wrestling show every weekend for the family-“

Leo would have loved to hear more but his phone chimed again. Corrin seized the opportunity.

“Is that Odin and Niles?” she asked. “They were expecting you home ages ago, weren’t they?”

“I’m afraid so,” Leo said, taking her cue as he checked his phone. It was Niles, but with a crude message rather than one of concern. “I had better report back to them.”

“Aw,” Hinoka said. “Well, it was good to meet you, Leo!”

“Likewise,” Leo said, smiling at her as he rose from his seat. “And good to see you again, Corrin. Takumi.”

“Whatever,” Takumi mumbled.

“I’ll walk you out,” Corrin said, standing up. They strode through the bar in silence that Corrin broke only once they had reached the foyer. “So what is going on with you and Takumi?”

“I thought only Niles was sordid enough to ask for details,” Leo said.

“Ha, ha,” Corrin said, enunciating each syllable sharply. “I just want to know what kind of sordid you’re up to. If you’re putting him at risk in any way-“

“We used protection,” Leo said, “And this is purely for my own physical satisfaction. Happy? Because he seems to be.”

“I guess that’s as good as I’m going to get,” Corrin said, sighing. “Just – be careful, won’t you?”

“I’ll request a full STD screening if you’re that worried about what he might be carrying,” Leo said.

“You should be doing that anyway,” Corrin said. “Though you know that’s not what I meant.”

“I’ve taken other precautions,” Leo said. “Completely replaced my old phone – I think Iago had bugged it – and set up a fake diary. I’ll be fine.”

Corrin took his hands in hers and squeezed. “Good,” she said. “But you know that this isn’t healthy, don’t you?”

“Yes, but some of us don’t have a spare set of family members to switch out when the original set get broken,” Leo said. “Incidentally, do you not find it creepy how mirrored your families are?”

“Leo,” Corrin said, gently, “I can tell when you’re running from a subject.”

“There’s just no point in discussing it,” Leo said. “You know the consequences well enough.”

“It was still worth it.”

“Again: I only have the one brother. I’d like to keep him.”

“Xander might come around-“

“Oh, really,” Leo said, tilting his head to the side. “When was the last time he spoke to you?”

Corrin fell silent, which stung Leo more than any of her words could. He pulled her in for a hug. She buried her head in his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I know that it was the right choice for you. But I just – I can’t take that risk.”

“I know,” Corrin said, stepping back to wipe her eyes. “And I just want you to be happy, Leo.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is safe for work! Unless your place of work objects to you reading 3,000 words of fanfic while you're on the clock/premises, anyway. 
> 
> Sorry for the delay with this chapter. The next one is roughly halfway done already so you shouldn't be waiting as long!

“Greetings, Lord Leo!” Odin cried out as Leo entered. “How was your evening?”

“Peculiar,” Leo said, hanging up his jacket. “I got accosted by a sibling and then someone else’s sibling.”

“Which of your siblings was betraying the Nohr name by staying in an off-brand hotel?”

“Corrin, who maxed out her betrayal limits as far as the family’s concerned long ago. It’d probably be a bigger issue if she tried to stay in one of ours.” He sat down on the sofa beside Odin. “I’m happy, aren’t I?”

Odin looked panicked at the shift in conversation. “Surely you should know that best? But I can dash to the corner shop and get a mood ring-“

“No, I mean generally. I’m happy with life – I mean, as much as people can be,” Leo amended. “Considering that we’re always striving to improve our living situation, it’s impossible for anyone to actually consistently feel happy.”

“Indeed,” Odin said, his eyes glazed over.

“Obviously my life isn’t perfect but you have to be pragmatic, don’t you?” Leo asked, removing his headband and pushing a hand through his hair. He’d done a lot of thinking in the car. “There are always going to be certain obstacles. Roadblocks in the journey of life.”

“Bosses?” Odin suggested, his eyes lighting up. “Do you need me to destroy a foe for you?”

“No, no,” Leo said, shaking his head. “Immoveable forces. Ones we need to work around, not go through.”

Odin deflated. “I suppose,” he said. “Is this a euphemism for your courtship of the Hoshido man? You might want to wait for Niles if so.”

“We’re not courting,” Leo said automatically, then frowned as the rest of Odin’s words caught up with him. “Wait for him? Where is he?”

“He went off on a quest for booty,” Odin said. “He feared that if you were making conquests when he wasn’t then the flames of Hell would freeze over.”

“Charming,” Leo said, rolling his eyes. He should have expected no less, though, and he had more intriguing things to discuss. “Did you know that the Hoshido siblings don’t all work for the family business?”

“But of course!” Odin exclaimed. “What would the Japanese wrestling world be without Pegasus Hinoka?”

“…What, indeed,” Leo said. “I take it that she’s good?”

“She’s incredible!” Odin said, leaping to his feet. “I often practice her finishing move, ‘Darting Blow’, in the hopes of one day getting to use it to defend your honour!” He clasped his hands overhead and shot them down like a lance. “Pow!”

“I see,” Leo said. “Well, she seems like a very nice young woman. Very unlike her brother.”

Odin gasped and fell to his knees. “She was the sibling you met?” he asked, his eyes wide.

“If I’d known you were such a fan I’d have asked for her autograph.”

“Is she in the country for long?” Odin demanded, clutching Leo’s trousers. “Is she touring? Can we go see her?”

“Not a clue, no idea, probably not,” Leo said. “Takumi will think I’m stalking him.”

“But I want to see her fiiiight,” Odin whined. “Surely you’re now on favourable enough terms to ask if perchance his sister is going to be participating in any bouts?”

“No,” Leo said. “I don’t want him to get the impression that I care about him or his family.”

“Pleeeeease?” Odin asked. “I will stop referring to the photocopier as the Clone-o-Matic!”

That was an offer simply too good to refuse. Or perhaps, deep down, Leo relished the pretext for contacting Takumi again. Either way, he sighed dramatically but nodded his agreement. Odin whooped and started victory dancing around the living room.

 

* * *

 

 

“What do you mean, she’s only here on holiday?” Odin wailed, crumpling to his feet. Leo was simply thankful that he hadn’t knocked the frying pan on the way down this time.

“For some reason, she’s decided that the country would make an acceptable holiday destination,” Leo said. “I have reason to suspect that her brother is here on business, however.”

Odin mumbled something about not caring what her dumb, non-wrestling brother was doing, and Leo was going to say that, actually, her brother had wrestled in the past, but Niles came in at that point.

“Good morning,” he said, grinning like he actually believed the greeting to be true. Usually he didn’t act like that until 10am, so Leo guessed that the previous night had either been really good or so good that Niles hadn’t yet slept. “Did you both have a nice evening?”

“Yes,” Odin said, still crumpled on the floor, “Until Lord Leo dashed my dreams this morning.”

“Did he drink the last of the strawberry milk again?”

“That was one time!” Leo protested. “And only because someone finished off the tomato juice.”

“Unlikely,” Niles said.

“Impossible,” said Odin, crinkling his nose in disgust. “No-one else has such vile taste.”

“So what has shattered your dreams this time?” Niles asked, perching on a stool at the kitchen island.

“Pegasus Hinoka is in the country!”

To Leo’s surprise, Niles actually reacted to the news.

“The flying princess is going to be performing?” he asked. “In England?”

“No!” Odin wailed. “She’s just here on holiday!”

“How come you both know her?” Leo asked, irritably. He felt, unreasonably, like his territory was being stepped on.

“We watch wrestling when you’re out,” Niles said.

“The poses are so inspirational!” Odin said.

“Among other things.”

“Of course,” Leo said. “More importantly, Takumi accused me of trying to get with his sister after I asked about her.”

“Are you?” Niles asked.

“No!” Leo said, offended. “I was only asking so that Odin would stop calling the photocopier weird names.”

“That offer was contingent on seeing her perform,” Odin muttered.

“It was not!”

“He would only make up weirder names for something else,” said Niles. “How was your beau, by the way?”

“Not my beau,” Leo said, “But he was the same as always. Cocky and irritating.”

“Have you flushed him out of your system?”

“Well,” Leo said, pretending to be very interested in the view from the window so he wouldn’t have to meet Niles’s leer, “I would not object if he suggested meeting again.”

“And has he?”

“No,” Leo said, sourly, “Because instead he’s telling me to back off from his sister.”

“I can see why,” Niles said. Leo glanced over to see Niles flicking through his phone.

“That’s mine!” Leo protested. Niles chuckled and threw it back to him.

“In future, don’t respond to allegations of chasing someone’s siblings with anything that compliments the sibling in question,” Niles said. “Odin, I think your bacon is burning.”

“It was merely constructive criticism,” Leo said, putting his phone in his shirt pocket where it would be safer from Niles’s deft fingers. Odin scrambled to his feet to rescue the burning bacon.

“I hope you’re not giving professional feedback in that way,” Niles said, grinning lecherously. “HR would have your _head_.”

Leo’s phone chimed and he lost his comeback in his haste to check what it was. Niles leaned over nosily.

“How dull,” Niles said, pulling back. He stretched with a yawn. “Well, I’m off to bed.”

“How nice for you,” Leo said, icily. “Odin, feel like attending the opera tonight?”

“But of course!” Odin said. “The raw power of song is-“

“Excellent,” Leo said. “We’ll be going with Zola.”

Odin hung his head morosely and stared down at his shrivelled bacon. “Oh, hooray.”

 

* * *

 

 

“I’m so glad that you could make it,” Zola cooed as they met him in the theatre bar. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, Lord Leo.”

“Thank you for inviting us,” Leo said as gracefully as he could manage. Zola always meant bad news and he usually delivered it at the worst possible time. “You said that you stumbled onto some impressive seats at the last minute?”

“Not just seats, but a box!” Zola said triumphantly. Odin perked up slightly at the mention of the box, which was understandable – he’d have an unrivalled view of the theatrics. Leo was suspicious, though, because any good news from Zola would necessarily be counteracted by whatever he was going to inflict on Leo later.

Leo was on edge the entire time they sat in the bar, waiting for the doors to open, and didn’t stop feeling nervous as they finally ascended the stairs to their private box. He perched nervously on a seat between Odin and Zola, frequently glancing at the latter as he waited for whatever bomb was coming. He completely missed Odin’s not so subtle clearing of the throat and Odin needed to elbow him for his attention.

“What?” Leo hissed.

“Look at the other box,” Odin whispered.

Leo looked out, over countless heads, and saw what had caught Odin’s attention. Corrin, Hinoka and another woman that he didn’t know were sitting in the opposite box. Corrin was carefully avoiding his gaze because of his present company, but Hinoka beamed and waved at him. Leo darted a glance at Zola, who was reading the programme, before smiling back. The lights dimmed and Leo grinned, imagining how sheepish Takumi would look as he came in late.

The performance began, but Leo couldn’t help but notice that Takumi was running uncomfortably late. He frowned and looked at Odin, who was entranced by the show, and then tried to turn his attention back to the stage.

“It seems your father’s plan is working,” Zola muttered. Leo started and looked at him. Zola was staring at the other box. “Takumi Hoshido must have accepted another entertainment for the evening.”

“What do you mean?” Leo whispered, but he suspected he already knew the answer. A chill crept down his veins. Zola arched an eyebrow and looked at him.

“Surely you know?” he asked. “I’d heard it was your idea. It’s an excellent opportunity to introduce a spy into the Hoshido midst.”

“Through Takumi,” Leo breathed.

“And his absence tonight suggests that it was a successful introduction.”

Leo felt faint, but he could feel Zola’s eyes burrowing into him. “Good,” he whispered.

The opera washed over him even though time seemed to have slowed down to a near standstill. Leo itched for the safety of the intermission, when he’d be able to pull out his phone and warn Takumi without arousing suspicion from Zola. But then when the lights came up Zola wanted to know what Leo thought, which was absolutely nothing, because how could he think anything when right at that moment Takumi could be-

Leo covered his mouth. Zola finally rose to his feet, saying that he was going to do something (Leo didn’t care what, he just wanted him gone) and Leo pulled out his phone. Odin looked on in confusion as Leo waited in agony for Takumi to pick up.

“Konnichiwa,” Takumi’s voicemail said, followed by words that Leo couldn’t follow. He waited for the familiar beep.

“Takumi,” Leo hissed, “If someone’s started hitting on you recently, get away from them. They’re-“

Odin rammed his elbow into Leo’s ribs. “Hello again, Zola!” Odin chirped. “Did they have an ice cream cart out there?”

“Not that I noticed,” Zola said, sitting back down beside Leo. Leo quickly hung up and put his phone away as normally as he could. How did he normally put his phone away? Where did he look? “Important call, Leo?”

“Oh, I had a voicemail,” Leo lied. “But it was nothing.”

 Even with Zola right next to him Leo couldn’t help checking his phone every few minutes or less, just in case Takumi had responded. When his phone finally did buzz to life he nearly catapulted himself off the balcony in his haste to stand up.

“Need the bathroom,” he said, then hurried out before Zola could intercept. He answered the call.

“Are you okay?” he asked, locking himself in the closest bathroom.

“But of course I’m fine, sweetie,” Camilla cooed down the phone after a moment’s pause. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Er,” Leo said, wishing that he’d spared a second to check the caller before picking up. “Well, it has been a while.”

“It’s so sweet of you to worry,” Camilla said. “But if I’d realised that I was causing you any concern I’d have called much sooner. Would you like me to call daily again?”

“No!” Leo said. “No, it’s quite all right. Were you calling about anything in particular?”

“Oh, I just wanted to check that my darling brother was okay.”

“I’m fine,” Leo said, quickly.

“I am glad,” Camilla said, and Leo could hear her smile down the phone. “Has anything interesting been happening in my absence?”

“Not a thing.”

“Met anyone interesting?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“I see,” Camilla sighed. “Well, do take care.”

“I will.”

“Love you, sweetie.”

“Love you too,” Leo said, then hung up before she could tell him how she loved him more. There was something suspicious about her questions and their timing – word had probably reached her about his run-in with father – but he didn’t have time to fret about that now. He called Takumi again.

“Konbanwa.”

“Not the answering message again,” Leo said, grinding his teeth in frustration. “Pick up, you-“

“You really need to be more perceptive,” Takumi said, yawning. Visions of Takumi post-coital ran through Leo’s mind. “That one starts with ‘konnichiwa’, dumbass.”

“Oh,” Leo said. “Well, maybe you should stick to a language your listener speaks if you want them to pick up on nuances like that-“

“Is there a reason for this call or did you just want to whine at me?”

“You didn’t get my message?” Leo demanded.  “What have you been doing?”

“God, sorry for not checking my phone every five seconds,” Takumi said. “What business is it of yours?”

“I’m trying to protect you, you belligerent turd!”

“I have much better people for that,” Takumi scoffed. “Don’t think you can squeeze on my payroll when daddy fires you.”

“You know what?” Leo said. “Forget it. Have fun with whoever you’re fucking.”

He hung up, wishing it was a traditional phone so that he could slam the receiver down dramatically. Poking at a screen just didn’t have the same impact. Screw Takumi – and not literally, not ever again. He could be robbed blind for all Leo cared. His phone buzzed, Takumi’s pseudo-name emblazoned on the screen, but Leo just switched it off. Takumi wasn’t having the last word this time.

Leo stewed furiously for the rest of the performance. He wanted to leave but Zola might infer something from that, and then he’d be subject to increased surveillance from his father’s underlings. Eventually the curtain fell, the lights returned, and Leo was free. Odin attempted to strike a conversation once they were safely away from Zola but he fell silent when Leo just growled in response.

“Evening,” Niles said, raising a glass as they entered the penthouse. His face fell as he took in Leo’s expression. “The singing that bad?”

“I barely noticed it,” Leo said, ripping his coat off. “I was too busy trying to protect an insufferable moron from selling his company for a few orgasms.”

Niles looked to Odin for clarification.

“Zola was bragging about a nefarious scheme,” Odin explained. “One he claimed that was currently in action.”

“Probably was in action,” Leo corrected. Odin shook his head. “Oh? And how do you know?”

“Ah,” Odin said, squirming under Leo’s glare. “It transpires that I have your Takumi-“

“Not my Takumi!”

“Your not your Takumi and I have a friend in common,” Odin said, raising his phone meekly. “I was going to alert Niles to the situation when a comment struck me as overly coincidental…”

“What do you mean?” Leo said, snatching Odin’s phone. Odin was as incomprehensible over text as in person, but as he scrolled through the messages he began to get the gist of what Odin was saying. “You’ve been buddies with his sword-fondling Hinata this whole time?”

“Sword-fondling?” Niles asked, leaning forward.

“We only realised each other’s mundane connections during the second act!” Odin yelped. “I did try to tell you, but you seemed rather…”

“But he refused to tell me what he was doing,” Leo said, his eyes wide. “I thought that he was…”

Niles filled in Leo’s gap with various obscene gestures. Leo wasn’t sure what half of them could possibly be referring to, but he was in no mood to ask. He sank down onto the sofa and put his head in his hands.

“Why wouldn’t he just tell me what he was doing?” he said, his words muffled.

“The impression I received was that Takumi did not appreciate your method of asking,” Odin said. “But I didn’t know he had neglected to inform you of that most crucial element!”

“That’s no reason for…” Leo began, but trailed off as he realised that he’d have responded in exactly the same way. “Oh, god.”

“Maybe it’s for the best that it ends this way,” Niles said. “It’s risky for you to be contacting him.”

“Yes, but,” Leo said, putting down his hands. He realised he had no logical argument against what Niles had said. “I was just trying to save him from a plot that might not have hatched if not for me.”

“And you tried,” Niles said. “Maybe Odin can get the message the rest of the way there.”

“I will be your messenger!” Odin said, striking a pose. Leo thought it looked more like a shot-putter than a messenger, but he wasn’t in the mood to say so.

“That’s probably for the best,” he said, nodding weakly. His staff smiled at him encouragingly. He stood up. “I think – I think I’ll go to bed now. It’s been a tiring day.”

But despite his exhaustion, it didn’t seem as though sleep would be coming for him any time soon. He tossed and turned in bed, thinking of the countless ways he could have handled it better. He worried over what obscenities Takumi left on his phone while it was switched off – but he didn’t have it in him to face it right then. And why had Zola assumed one thing and Odin said another? Of course he’d thought the worst given the information he’d had. Of course Takumi would have been easy for one of his father’s spies to seduce, if Leo had managed it, so why….?

He buried his head in his pillow and tried his best to block out all further trains of thought. None of their destinations were appealing.


End file.
